What is the first thing to make an impression on users when they visit a website? If you guessed the design, you would be right! Nearly 94% of first impressions are related to a website’s design and almost 48% of website visitors attribute website design to a business’s credibility. 

Challenger Sports is an organization that is passionate about delivering high-quality soccer camps and learning experiences for youth soccer players and their families of all ages and ability levels. Although they had this vision for their business, their website was not designed in a way that made it easy for users to find and register for camps. They were experiencing an 80% drop in camp registrations due to poor user experience, inability to search and find a camp easily, and was not optimized for mobile devices.

Goals:

IOI worked closely with the Challenger Sports team to develop goals and a pathway to achieve them. Their first goal was to increase annual camp revenue to $7.9M with 45,000 registrants, which would be a 20% increase in growth year over year. They also wanted to reduce the high drop-off rate on the website.

Strategy:

To achieve these goals, we knew a new website and camp search experience would be crucial. IOI built a custom camp finder making it easier for users to search and register for upcoming camps. We also developed cohesive branding and messaging through the website as well as more calls to action that encourage users to contact Challenger Sports through the integration of HubSpot forms.

Aside from website updates, IOI developed a full marketing strategy with the goal of pushing soccer camp registrations. This included a $5,000 budget allocation to Google and Meta ads directing to the camp finder. This campaign also included four email blasts and four social media posts promoting the new website and camp finder, along with long-form content that lives on the site. We doubled down on all these efforts by adding a registration camp banner to all email blasts and Regional Director’s email signatures.

Results:

The Challenger Sports website and camp finder redesign launched at the end of January 2023 and recorded a 22% increase in camp registrations year-over-year in the first 45 days. It also created and collected 878 new contacts in HubSpot. From IOI’s marketing efforts alone, this strategy led to 1,258 camp registrations and $274,215 in revenue.

With the partnership between IOI Ventures and Challenger Sports, all initial goals for this campaign were met and exceeded. The updates to their website and camp finder pages have made the customer experience smoother and have led to more leads and registrations.

As marketers, your website is the first thing we look at before we start any kind of marketing efforts. We dive into how it’s performing, how easy it is to navigate as a customer, and ultimately is it set up for success of the business. When we first started working with our client, Challenger Teamwear, about 4 months ago, we noticed right away we needed to create a landing page that not only was easier to navigate as a customer, but provided opportunities to contact them and capture the leads information. If not, any money or marketing efforts we push there would be money down the drain.

In an effort to show them how quickly and easily this can be done, we immediately went to work on building out a simple lead gen landing page focused on attracting and converting leads. Adding in multiple opportunities to contact and capture a lead’s information through Hubspot forms.

This is where the fun began. We started to show how effective a customer driven landing page, with Hubspot form integration and some key marketing pushes, helped increase $29,448.73 in sales over 4 months. In total, this added up to 145% ROI for our client. 

The breakdown of what we did: 

• Pushed $3k in paid dollars monthly to the new landing page
• Created and scheduled 4 email blasts monthly linking out to the landing page
• Created new social accounts (FB & IG), a content calendar each month, along with a linktree to link out to the new landing page

The end result after the first 4 months: 

• • Total $12,000 in ad spend over 4 months

• 561 new leads

• • 33 new deals and 16 closed/won deals totaling in $29,448.73 worth of revenue
  • Investment gain: $17,448.73 
• Total of 145% ROI

The above ultimately catapulted them into building off what we started and increasing marketing efforts: More landing pages specific to each sport they offer, FULL Hubspot integration for marketing and sales as well as additional campaigns throughout holiday months to capitalize on sale opportunities. 

Additional Campaign efforts included: 

• • Year End Clearance Landing page with over 250 products from Under Armour & Adidas and a 2 email/social push over a one week period

• Over $2,900 in sales on the first day 

• • Black Friday Spiritwear sale which included 2 emails/social to each Organization’s pages plus a digital flyer with QR code for the Organization to push out on their end. All over a one week period
• Over $2,000 in sales 

And this is just the beginning! We are only 4 months into the relationship, and have no doubt that this will continue to improve and increase revenue for their company. Hello happy client!

Steps To Building Solid Client Relationships

If you’re working directly with clients, then you understand how important building that relationship is! Whether they are new or old clients, it is vital that you not only grow those relationships but keep them lasting for years to come. Here are some key areas that will help you along the way. 

One of the main components of any client relationship is strong communication.  If you do it well, it will trickle down to all the other areas that help form a strong connection. With communication, you want to make sure you are always open and clear with what you are trying to say. Break things down so that it is simple and easy to understand. Make sure you are timely with your responses, ask questions, be extremely transparent and always follow up post-discussion. 

Another important piece to building solid client relationships is managing expectations. Everyone has their own deadlines, to-do lists, etc., so making sure you are all on the same page with action items and deliverables is crucial. I recommend always documenting things in writing, (i.e., email). This helps keep everyone accountable and on track with what needs to be done as well as who is responsible for each actionable item. You never want to play the guessing game. Confirmations are important and if you don’t get them, follow up. 

Additionally, it’s good to know when to stop and say, ‘hold on, we have one too many requests, which one is the priority to get done first?’ Always saying yes can get you into trouble. Making your clients happy is top priority, but being open and honest with what you can/can’t do within a specified timeline is better than overpromising and not being able to deliver. Knowing that balance and communicating it clearly will benefit you in the long run. 

If you are thoroughly communicating and managing expectations then you are on your way to building trust with your client. They ultimately came to you as a knowledge expert in your field. Be that expert but stay humble in your knowledge. Be willing to educate, help and support, but also open to ideas and information. Building trust can take some time, but is one of the areas that will take a good client relationship to a great client relationship. 

Lastly, it’s important to get to know your clients. Yes, we are all busy bees working hard and we need to keep on task, but being personable goes a long way! Spend the first two mins of each conversation catching up. Take the time to get to know them, their likes and dislikes.  Showing that you care about them as an individual instead of just a job that needs to get done, will give that extra “special” touch.

At the end of the day it’s important to remember that you are all on the same team working towards the same goal! Be there for your clients, stay positive and keep the line of communication open, always! 

Looking for more inside information on building connections with your clients? Make sure to click the link below! 

An engaging webinar not only increases participation among your audience but leads to a better outcome overall. To make your webinars more interactive and valuable for your audience, consider implementing the following strategies:

Set clear goals: Define the objectives of your webinar and clearly communicate them to your audience. This will help participants understand what to expect and stay engaged throughout the session.

Know your audience: Research and understand your target audience’s interests, needs, and preferences. Tailor your content and delivery to meet their expectations, addressing their pain points and providing practical solutions.

Interactive content: Incorporate interactive elements such as polls, surveys, quizzes, and Q&A sessions. Encourage participants to share their opinions, ask questions, and play an active part in the webinar. This involvement fosters engagement and creates a two-way conversation.

Visual aids and multimedia: Utilize visually appealing slides, images, videos, and graphs to enhance your content. Visual aids help reinforce key points, break up monotony, and make the webinar more visually stimulating.

Engage with storytelling: Incorporate storytelling techniques to make your content relatable and memorable. Narrate relevant anecdotes, real-life examples, or case studies that resonate with your audience. Stories evoke emotions, capture attention, and facilitate better retention of information.

Collaborative activities: Encourage group activities or breakout sessions where participants can collaborate and share ideas with each other. This fosters a sense of community and allows attendees to learn from their peers, enhancing the overall value of the webinar.

Use interactive tools: Leverage interactive tools such as whiteboards, annotation features, or live chat to promote engagement. These tools enable participants to actively participate, ask questions, and provide feedback in real-time.

Time management: Plan and manage your webinar’s timing effectively. Structure your content into digestible segments with breaks in between to prevent information overload. Respect participants’ time by starting and ending the webinar on time.

Follow-up and resources: Provide additional resources, handouts, or links to relevant materials after the webinar. Follow up with participants through email or social media, addressing any unanswered questions or concerns. This post-webinar engagement reinforces the value of the session and encourages future participation.

Remember to continuously seek feedback from your audience to improve the quality of your webinars. Analyze participation metrics, conduct surveys, and engage in post-webinar discussions to gather insights and refine your approach.

In the world of social media, staying current and engaging with your audience means tapping into trending holiday topics. Whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, or even National Donut Day, there’s always a holiday around the corner to provide fresh opportunities for content creation. Here are a handful of ways to make the most out of trending holiday topics to boost your social media presence: 

Early Bird Gets the Worm

The first rule of capitalizing on trending holiday topics is to start planning your content well in advance. Keep a well-organized content calendar that highlights upcoming holidays and events relevant to your audience. This ensures you have time to plan and create content well in advance. Early engagement can build anticipation and excitement among your followers.

Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience’s preferences and interests is paramount. Different holidays resonate differently with various demographics. Make sure you research what holidays matter most to your followers, be inclusive, and align your content accordingly. You don’t want to ruffle feathers or have your account suspended. 

Monitor Trends

Stay up-to-date with current trends and conversations surrounding the holiday. Follow relevant hashtags, join relevant social media groups, and pay attention to what influencers in your niche are doing. This will help you identify the trending topics, challenges, and conversations to engage with in your holiday-themed content.

Create Valuable and Relevant Content

Don’t just jump on the holiday bandwagon for the sake of it. Ensure your content provides value to your audience and is relevant to the holiday. If it’s Thanksgiving, offer cooking tips or share stories of gratitude. If it’s Halloween, create spooky DIY tutorials or share costume ideas. By providing valuable content, you’re more likely to engage and retain your audience.

Utilize User-Generated Content

Encourage your followers to contribute to your holiday content by sharing their experiences, stories, or creations related to the holiday. User-generated content not only boosts engagement but also creates a sense of community and trust around your brand. For example, you can run a Halloween-themed contest or challenge where your followers can submit their own spooky creations. Share and celebrate the best entries on your social media channels to build a sense of community.

Host Holiday-Themed Contests and Giveaways

Kickstart the holiday season with a jolt of excitement and festive engagement. Hosting contests or giveaways infused with holiday themes is a brilliant strategy to immerse your audience in the joyous spirit of the season! 

Encourage your followers to take part in fun challenges or friendly competitions, all while dangling tempting holiday-themed prizes as delightful incentives.  Whether it’s wickedly cool Halloween merchandise, generous discount codes, or the promise of exclusive content, these giveaways can work their magic and create buzz across your social media channels.

Be Visual and Creative

People are drawn to eye-catching visuals and creative content. Use high-quality images, videos, infographics, and other multimedia elements to make your holiday content stand out. Experiment with creative storytelling techniques and interactive content formats like polls, quizzes, and live streams to engage your audience.

Leverage Holiday Hashtags

Hashtags are your ticket to reaching a broader audience interested in the holiday. Research and use relevant holiday-themed hashtags in your posts to increase discoverability. Popular Halloween-related hashtags like #Halloween, #SpookySeason, or #TrickOrTreat can help expand your reach.

Stay Authentic

While it’s important to align your content with holiday themes, remember to stay true to your brand’s identity. Authenticity resonates with audiences. If your content feels forced or unrelated to your brand, it can turn off followers.